The Effect of Global Financial Crisis on the Nigerian Economy

2014 dissertation for MBA in International Business. Selected by academic staff as a good example of a masters level dissertation. The focus of this research work is to study and determine the effects of the global financial crisis on the key sectors Nigerian economy. The critical review of literature concentrated on understanding the genesis of the crisis, types of financial crisis that could possibly plague any economy in the world, factors that contributed to its spread over the world, economic models adopted by countries to mitigate or insulate their economies from its heinous impact as well as lessons for future reformatory policies that would guide and help economies to thrive and grow, irrespective of whatever negative effect that may occur. Secondary data was obtained through Google Alerts and Google Trends over a period of two months to attract worldwide feedback on effect of financial crisis in Nigeria by email. Further probing of data obtained was done by conducting a qualitative review of literature by searching popular press, trade literature, academic literature and some published statistics from governmental agencies, research firms and regulatory bodies for data and insight into the problem at hand. The findings showed that indeed the global financial crisis had a negative impact on the economy of Nigeria as evidenced by its effect on several economic variables studied namely; Gross Domestic Product, Unemployment rate, Inflation rate, Interest rate & Monetary Policy and the Exchange Rate. Conclusively, this research has shown without any doubt that the global financial crisis had multiplier effects on the Nigerian economy that translated through each sector negatively. It was also established that the major transmission channel of this global financial contagion was the interdependence of Nigeria’s economy on other economies of the world